Beer metering device



Aug. 18, 1936. F, TRINCA 2,051,429

BEER METERING DEVICE Filed sept. le, 193s' s sheetssheet 1 Aug. 18,1936. F TR|NA 4 2,051,429

BEER METERING DEVICE Filed Sept. 16, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 @43 Q a, M1

wim/MAQ.

Aug. 18, 1936. F. TRlNcA 2,051,429

BEER METERING DEVICE Filed sept. 16, 1933 s sheets-sheet s @neder/'CO4Wint/Q,

Patented Aug. is, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a device or faucet for dispensing beer andother similar beverages or liquids in general which are sold by theglass or in variable quantities, and particularly to means forindicating and registering the amount of liquid dispensed from a liquidcpntaining receptacle and the total or aggregate amount dispensed from aplurality of successive receptacles within any given time.

In dispensing beer or other similar beverages or liquids which are soldover a counter or otherwise in variable quantities by the glass of acertain capacity, or by the pint, quart, half gallon or other measuredquantity, it is desirable that a record may be kept of the amountdispensed from a keg or other container in use at the time, or from aseries of such containers Within a given period, in order that lossesdue to waste or other causes may be deterred or prevented.

One object of my invention is to provide a faucet or dispensing deviceembodying simple, reliable and eiicient means for indicating inconnection with each transaction the amount of liquid dispensed, forregistering and indicating the amount of liquid, dispensed from acontainer in use at the time, and for also registering and indicating,if desired, the total or aggregate amount dispensed from a plurality ofsucccssive containers within a given period of time.

A further object of the invention is to provide indicating andregistering means for use upon a dispensing faucet which is normally inoperative for use and which is rendered operative by the flow of theliquid through the faucet, whereby casual shifting of the parts betweenoperating periods, with obviously objectionable results, will beprevented.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an indicating andregistering attachment or unit which may be applied to an ordinary typedispensing faucet, either preceding or following the valve memberthereof, with little or no alteration in the faucet construction.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear in thecourse of the subjoined description, the invention consists of the novelfeatures of construction, combination and arrangement of parts,hereinafter fully described and claimed and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. i is a front end elevation of a measuring faucet provided with anindicating and reg- (Cl. 'I3-229) istering unit constructed inaccordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the measuring 5 and registering'unitremoved from the faucet.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a view of the pressure actuated control member.

Fig. '7 is a sectional view through the transmission clutchl and gearunit controlled thereby.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view on line 8-8 of Fig. 3, showingparticularly the resetting device.

Fig. 9 is a detail section of the transmission gearing and clutch,controlled by the control member, for actuating the indicators of themeasuring and registering unit.

Fig. 10 is aview of the removable head of the impeller casing.

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of a faucet in which the measuring unit isarranged in the intake branch thereof. l

Fig. 12 is a plan view of the shifter sleeve vshowing the cam.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, I designates a beer orother beverage or liquid dispensing faucet of a known type comprising ahorizontally disposed casing 2 in which is arranged a sliding valvemember 3 movable by an operating handle 4 for controlling the iiow ofliquid through the faucet casing. The

casing is provided with an intake branch 5 suitably mounted in practiceupon a counter or dispensing cabinet 6 and with a discharge branch Ithreaded to receive a coupling ring 8 connecting thereto a detachabledischarge nozzle 9. In this particular instance the seat for the valvemember 3 is formed in the nozzle 9, and this nozzle 9 is made detachableso that the nozzle and measuring unit may be applied in such manner asto permit of their ready connection and disconnection for convenience incleaning or repairing the parts or substituting new parts for old andworn out ones as required from time to time in the service operation ofthe apparatus. If desired, however, the noz zle 9 may be made integralwith the outlet 1 and suitably constructed for the application of' themeasuring unit thereto. The intake branch 5 of the faucet casing issuitably connected in practice with a liquid supply pipe l0 leading to acooling coil inthe cabinet 6 or otherwise toa beer cask or othercontainer containing the zol liquid which is to bedispensed in measuredquantities under a suitable forcing pressure.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a liquid measuring andcounting or registering mechanism for indicating the amount oi liquidwhich has been dispensed for indicating current sales or the amount ofliquid dispensed from a keg or container which supplies the faucet atany particular time, and for also indicating and registering the totalsales or aggregate amount of liquid dispensed, for example, from aplurality of containers with which the faucet is successively connected,during any given period of time, that is, at the-end of every Week,every half month or every month, as desired, so that a check upon theamount dispensed from a container in usel and an estimate of the amountremaining therein to be dispensed may be obtained at any time, as wellas the total dispensed during any desired period of time. liquidmeasuring and counting or registering mechanism is of unitaryconstruction and, as shown in Figs. l to 10, inclusive, is applied tothe discharge nozzle 9 of the faucet, but, as hereinafter described, andas shown in Fig. 11, the unit may be applied in the intake branch of thefaucet between the valve 3 and the supply pipe I0.

The said liquid measuring and counting or .registering unit comprises ahousing II which conveniently consists of a meter or measuring casing orchamber I2 and a, gear casing or chamber I3. The casing or chamber I2 isprovided at its top `with an externally threaded "inlet connection I4and at its bottom with an outlet or discharge connection I5, and saidchamber is closed at one side by a fixed wall I6 and is normally open atits opposite side or that side facing the adjacent side of the chamberlor Icasing I3. This normally open side of the chamber or casing I2 isclosed by a detachable wall or head I1. Disposed within this casing is adrive shaft I8 which is mounted at one end in a bearing socket I9 in thewall I6 and extends at its opposite end externally through an opening 20in the wall or head I'I and is journaled in a bearing 2i iitted andsecured within the inner portion of said opening 20. Fixed to this shaftis a rotary measuring wheel 22 which comprises in its construction acentral hub 23 fixed to the shaft I8, a pair of end heads or disks 24,and an annular series of spiral propeller blades 25 fixed to the hub anddisks and extending outwardly from the hub to the peripheries-of thedisks.

The inlet ,connection I4 of the measuring casing or chamber I2 which isthreaded, as stated, in the outlet end of the faucet 9, is provided withan intake passage located mainly or wholly on one side of its verticalcenter and having a widened intake portion 26, a constricted delivery'portion 2'I communicating tangentially with the meter wheel receivingportion of the casing and with the pockets between the blades of theWheel, and a flaring or tapering intermediate portion 28 at the innerside of which is an inclined supporting ledge or shoulder 29 and at thetop and outer side of which is a stop shoulder 30. When the valve 3 ofthe faucet is open the uid discharging under pressure therethroughenters the outlet or discharge branch 3 and then flows through theportions of the passages 26, 2'I and 28 to the measuring Wheel chamberin such manner as to lenter into one of the pockets of the measuringwheel at one side of the vertical center and below the horizontal Thiscenter of the wheel so as to always positively.

effect the rotation of the wheel in one, namely a clockwise, direction.The arrangement and formation of this passage also ensures aconcentration of the force of the liquid under pressure on the blades ofthe wheel which, supplemented by the force of gravity or head on theliquid, will always ensure a positive movement of the wheel even in theevent of the liquid being discharged under a low forcing pressure. Theliquid passing through the measuring chamber is discharged through theoutlet I5 at the bottom of the casing I2 and in its passage a definiteamount is discharged on each rotation of the wheel. As shown, the disks24 of the measuring wheel are provided with annular series of packingribs 3| which engage recesses 32 in the inner faces of the walls I6 andIl to prevent leakage of liquid between said disks and walls and toensure that all the liquid will pass into the pockets of the measuringwheel.

The gear casing or chamber I3 comprises a body having a bottom wall 33,a top wall 34 and a side wall 35, the opposite side of the casing beingnormally open and closed in the assembled condition of the parts by-thehead or wall I1 of the casing I2, the parts being united by suitablefastenings so that the casings I2 and I3 may be disconnected to permitaccess to the interiors thereof for application, removal, cleaning orrepairs of the contained working parts. 'I'he top wall 34 of the casingI3 is provided with a circular portion engaged by a threaded clampingring 36 which connes in position an observation panel 31 of glass orother transparent material and a dial 38 having openings therein throughwhich numerals upon the rotary indicating disks or wheels of primary andsecondary registers, indicating devices or measurers 39 and 40,respectively, are exposed.

l'I'he disks or wheels of the register 33 may vary in number as desiredor required, but in the present instance consist of two` disks, namelya. units and a tens disk, bearing numerals representing measuredquantities of liquid dispensed, such quantities in the present instancecomprising pints and gallons, asindicated upon the dial in connectionwith the associated dial openings, while the wheels or disks of theregister 40, which may also vary in number as desired or required,consist in the present instance of four such wheels or disksrepresenting units, tens, hundreds and thousands, designating the numberof gallons dispensed, as indicated by the appropriately designatedassociated opening in the dial. The disks of each register may beindicator disks of ordinary type loosely mounted for rotation onsupporting shafts and provided with gear portions or rings and transferelements or gears meshing with the rings for kproperly rotating the sameand transferring motion from one ring to the other. I have not deemed itnecessary to fully and completely show the transfer elements in detail,as the construction and operation of counter wheels or disks 0fregisters of this type are well known. For the purpose of making asufcie'nt disclosure of this invention the rst or units disk of theregister 39 is shown as provided with a gear ring 4I receiving motionfrom a drive pinion 42 splined on a primary transmission shaft 43, andwhereby said units disk or ring is driven. This disk or ring rotatesthrough sixteen indicating steps, representing pints, every half turn ofthe disk representing one gallon, and then at every half 73' turn thedisk transfers motion through a transmission gear 44 to the second ortens disk of said register, which rotates through a certain number ofgallons indicating steps, from one to fifteen or more, and which mayhave a maximum registering capacity corresponding, if desired, to thatof a conventional beer or other liquid containing cask or barrel fromwhich a certain liquid to be dispensed is customarily dispensed. Thefirst disk or wheel of the register40 is designed to be rotated from thetens dis'k of the register 39 by suitable intervening transmissionmechanism and to communicate motion to the succeeding disk of theregister 40 by means of transfer elements of the usual or any suitabletype for properlycommunicating motion from one to the other so as toindicate through the appropriate slot in the dial the total amount ofliquid which has been dispensed within a given period of time. As shownin the present instance, the transmission mechanism for transferringmotion from the tens disk of register 39 to the units disk of register40 comprises a shaft 45 on which the gear 44 is loosely mounted and onwhich are also loosely mounted a pair of transmission gears 46 and 41meshing respectively with toothed rings on the tens disk of register 39and units disk of register 46. These gears 46 and 41 are normallycoupled for rotation in unison by hollow clutch gears 48 and 49,respectively, on a sleeve 50 slidable and rotatable on the shaft 45, thesleeve 49 being constantly in engagement with the gear 41 while thesleeve 48 is movable into and out of engagement with the gear 46 for thepurpose of disengaging the register disk 40 from the register disk 39whenever it is desired to reset the register 39, as hereinafterdescribed.

The shaft 43 carries a spur gear 5I having a beveled gear portion 52 anda cone-shaped portion 53, and said gear 5I meshes with and receivesdriving motion from a drive gear 54 on the drive shaft I8 operated bythe measuring or impeller wheel 22. The shaft 43 is rotatably andslidably mounted so that it may be slidably moved to shift the gear 5Iout of driving mesh with the gear 54, and a spring 55 is provided tonormally hold said shaft 43 shifted in one direction so as to normallykeep the gear 5I in engagement with the driving gear 54.

Journaled for rotation in the bottom of the casing I3 is a gear element56 in the form of a rotatable shaft provided with a worm gear portion 51and a spur gear portion 58, said worm gear portion 51 meshing With aworm 59 on a transmission shaft lldriven by a gear 6I from the drivegear 54 on shaft I8, whereby the gear element 56 is driven. The upperend of gear element 56 is provided with a socket forming a bearing forthe lower end of a shaft or spindle 62 disposed coaxially with said gearelement shaft 56 and carrying at its upper end a hand or pointer 63which traverses the face of the dial 38. The portion of the shaft orspindle 62 within the casing I3 and the upper end of the shaft 56 areenclosed by a slidable and rotatable control or clutch sleeve 64 havingat its lower end internal gear teeth 65 and at its upper end I anapertured guide head 66 slidably engaging 'the shaft 62 and surmountedby a cam member 61 of nearly circular form, said cam member having adepressed end portion 68 and a recessed end portion 69 with an inclinedcam surface therebetween, and said end portions 68 and 69 beingseparated sufliciently to provide a starting gap or notch 10 and a stopshoulder at the side of the notch formed by the high end of the cam. Thesleeve 64 is normally held elevated by means of a coiledspring 1Ienclosed therein between the head 66 and a spur gear member 12 xed tothe lower end of said shaft 62, and which gear is normally engaged bythe teeth 65 of the sleeve 64, which are held aboveand out of mesh withthe gear member 58, whereby the lower end of the sleeve is guided andsaid sleeve normally coupled to the shaft 62 for rotation therewith"while being operatively disconnected from the shaft 54 by reason of thegear portion 65 being lifted out of engagement with the gear portion 58.

`The gearing comprising the elements 56, 51, 58, 59, 60, 6I and 65 whichdrive the indicator hand 63 is, therefore, normally maintained out ofaction until the sleeve 64 is depressed to bring gear surface 65v intoengagement with gear surface 58, so as to effect a transmission ofmotion from shaft 56 to shaft 62, so that normally no indicating motionof the indicator hand 63 can occur. In order to effect a shifting" ofthe clutch sleeve 64 to connect said sleeve and the shaft 62 to theshaft 56 for actuation thereby, a shifter is provided which isautomatically thrown into operation when the valve 3 is open fordispensing fluid to connect the shafts 56 and 62 by means of the clutchsleeve 64 and which is automatically thrown out of operation todisconnect said shaft and sleeve when the valve is closed to cut off thedischarge of the liquid. This shifter comprises a rock shaft or rod 13which is journaled in the casings I2 and I3, one end of said rod being.disposed in the inlet I4 of the casing I2 and carrying an actuatingvalve blade or plate 14 disposed therein, while the opposite end o-fsaid rod is bent to provide an actuating arm 15 adapted for cooperationwith the cam member 61. Normally the blade or plate 14 is disposed inthe full line position shown in Fig. 2 in which it is held elevatedabove the inclined seat 29 and in Contact with the stop shoulder 30 toact as a valve or stop to close communication between the nozzle 9 andportions 21 and 28 of the feed passage in the casing I2, in whichposition it is held by the pressure of the spring 1I holding the sleeve64 in upraised or retracted position, in which position the arm portion15 of the shaft 13 lies in the cam gap or slot 10 and operates as acrank to tun the shaft 13 and blade or plate 14 to the stated position.As soon, however, as handle 4 is actuated to open valve 3, the pressureof the liquid striking the blade or plate 14 causes the latter to beforced downward to a position in which it uncovers the feed passageportion 21 and seats against the shoulder 29, thus effecting a rockingmotion of the shaft 13 in which the crank arm 15 is caused to engagepart 66 and to depress the sleeve 64 to bring its toothed portion 65into engagement with the toothed portion 58 of shaft 56, whereby saidsleeve and shaft will be coupled together for rotation in unison and totransfer driving motion to shaft 62 whereby the indicator hand orpointer 63 is operated. The sleeve 64 will be held in this clutchingposition and the hand in operation traversing the dial 38 as long as thesleeve is held depressed, or as long as the valve is open and liquidflowing. The hand 63 in making one complete revolution indicates theflow of a pint of the liquid or indicated fractions thereof. As soon,however, as the valve is closed to cut off the flow oi liquid, the bladeor plate 14, on being relieved from pressure will offer no resistance tothe upward movement of the sleeve by the spring 1|, and said sleeve willaccordingly be elevated by the spring 1| to disengage the gear teeth 65from the gear teeth 58, thus throwing shaft 56 out of gear with theshaft 64 and spindle 62, whereupon the operation of the hand or pointer63 will be stopped. It will be understood that the purpose of the gearconnection 65-12 between shaft 64 and spindle 82 is to connect saidshafts in fixed relation against relative rotation, and thereby tomaintain a fixed relation between the pointer 63 and starting notch 10,while at the same time allowing sliding movement of shaft 64 on spindle62 to shift the gear teeth 85 into and out of engagement with the gearteeth 58. The purpose of providing the cam 61 is, as previouslydescribed, to form the starting gap 10 and to provide a means operatingin conjunction with arm 15 to hold the elevated shaft 64 and the spindle62 from casual rotation in either direction unless and until rotated bythe shaft 56 thus ensuring an accurate resetting of said parts after adispensing action and their maintenance in staring position untilanother dispensing action is begun. A further purpose of the cam 61 isto effect a. sufficient extent of depression of the shaft 64 to tensionthe spring 1| to a sufficient degree to, at all times, return the shaft64 to its normally elevated position, when allowed to do so by crank arm15, and to effect a positive engagement between gears 65 and' 58 duringsuch spring tensioning action. It will be understood that on thedownward movement of the plate 14 into engagement with the abutmentsurface 29 the rocking movement of the arm 15 on the bottom wall of gap10 will be sufficient to depress the shaft 64 to a certain degree,enough to bring the lower end of gear into engagement with the upper endof gear 58 to start rotation of the sleeve 64 and pointer operatingspindle 62 and that thereafter the arm 15 rides on the cam surface 61 todepress the shaft 64 to the full extent necessary to compress andtension the spring to the degree required, which action is permitted andcompensated for, while the rotation of parts 64-62 is maintained, by thedownward sliding travel of the gear teeth 65 on the teeth of gear 58. Ifonly a pint of liquid is dispensed, as indicated by one completerotation of the pointer about the indicator dial and the flow of liquidis then cut off the arm 15 will be immediately elevated and the spring1I will return the parts 62--64 and the indicator hand to startingposition, otherwise the indicator hand will continue to rotate about theface of the dial to indicate` the amount of liquid dispensed in pintsuntil the faucet is closed to cut off the ow of liquid. If by any chancethe flow of liquid is cut off at any time when arm 15 does not restl ingap 18 spring 1i will return indicator parts to a starting position inwhich arm 15 is again positioned in gap 19.

It will be understood from the foregoing that in the operation of theapparatus, for dispensing beer, for example, the movement of the faucethandle 4 to open the valve 3 for a dispensing action will cause adownward movement of plate 14 and the shifting of the cam sleeve 64 tocouple the hand operating shaft 56 with the drive gearing for theindicating movement of the hand 63 onthe rotation of the impeller ormeasuring wheel. This wheel measures a deflnite quantity of liquidfilling its pockets on each. revolution or a fraction of a revolutionthereof, and its motion is transmitted to the hand or pointer 63 tovisually indicate each pint of liquid, or a fraction thereof dispensed,and at the same 5 time the shaft 43 is driven for transmitting motion tothe primary register 39 and therefrom in proper sequence to thesecondary register 40. The units and tens indicating Wheels or countersof the primary register 39 respectively indicate through the coactingslot in the dial the amount of liquid, in pints or fractions thereof,or. each dispensing action, and in gallons thereof in one or moredispensing operations, up to a maximum of eight pints for the unitsdisk, after which motion is transmitted to the tens disk, for indicatingfrom one gallon'up to any desired number of gallons lwhich may be themaximum number of gallons held by a beer keg or barrel of a standardcontaining capacity or size from 20 which the beverage is usuallydispensed. By this means an accurate indication may be given of not onlythe amount of liquid dispensed on each dispensing action, which may be afull pint or a fraction of a pint in the case of a stein, 25 glass, orlike receptacle, but also of the number of gallons of liquid dispensedon any one or a multiplicity of dispensing operations, from which theamount dispensed from the time a filled cask is connected with thedispensing apparatus 30 for use up to the time it is fully empty will beindicated and the amount remaining in a cask, after a certain number ofgallons have been dispensed, may be determined, so that by means of theindicator hand and the primary register an accurate and complete tab ofthe amount of liquid dispensed or current sales made from a container inuse may be gained. The secondary register 46 may be convenientlyemployed for registering the aggregate or total amount of liquid from aplurality of receptacles successively used which may be dispensed withina given period of time, for example, a Week, half monthly, or monthly,so that a complete tab or check upon the amount of liquid dispensedduring any certain period and from any certain number of receptacleswill be furnished. My invention therefore provides a measuring faucethaving means for indicating quantities of liquid dispensed in suchmanner as to enable the proprietor of an establishment to keep accuratetab upon sales made or liquid dispensed and to prevent the lossesordinarily due to careless manipulation and waste or otherl causes.

Means are provided whereby the primary register 39 may be operablydisconnected from the secondary register 40, so that said primaryregister may be turned back or reset at the end of a certain checkingperiod or at the time an emptycontainer is being disconnected and a. new00 container is being applied, Without in any manner disturbing previousadjustments of the register 40. This means comprises, as shownparticularly in Figs. 5 and 8, a sleeve or casing 16 on the head i1,which opens at one end through 65 the head and is partly closed at thatpoint by a threaded closure plug 11 havingv a slot 18 therein. In thiscasing is slidably and rotatably mounted a resetting shaft 19 carryingat its outer end a resetting gear having beveled 70 gear teeth 8| and acone surface 82. At its inner end the shaft 19 is coupled to a guidedisk or head 83 on which acts a spring 84 which normally moves the shafttoward the plug 11 to hold the gear 80 in retracted position. The disk75 ily understood by those versed in the art without a further andextended description, and it -will be seen that the invention provides adeor head 83 is provided with a; slot 85 to receive a bead 86 upon theextremity of the shank of an operating key or tool 81, the shank portion88 of which is of somewhat less width than the slot 18 in the plug 11and is provided with a lateral bead 89 which is adapted when the key isinserted to lie between the plug 11 and disk 83 and to form a shoulderwhereby the disk and shaft 19 may be moved forward to gear engagingposition and the bead 89 then turned out of register with the slot 18 toform a locking member to hold the key against casual withdrawal underlpressure of the spring 84, whereby the gear 80 may be held in projectedor engaging position as long as it is 'desired to hold the register 39out of action. When the shaft 19 is moved forward by the action of thekey 81 its cone surface 82 engages the cone surface 53 of gear 5I andslides said gear out of engagement with the drive gear 54 withoutdisconnecting gear 42 from the unit disk of the register 39, thismovement continuing until beveled gear portion 8| of gear 80 is broughtinto engagement with beveled portion 52 of gear 5I, whereupon byrotating the shaft 19 and gear 80 by means of the key 81, gear 52 andshaft 43 may be rotated to turn gear 42 to turn the disks of register 39back to starting position. This sliding movement of shaft 43 transmitsmotion through a connection 43 to a shifting lever` 90 to which it iscoupled to slide the sleeve 50 throughvthe action of a sleeve 9| looselymounted thereon-and pivoted to lever 90, so as to move clutch gear 48out of engagement with gear 46, thus breaking the transmissionconnection between the registers 39 and 40 and allowing register 39 tobe turned back or reset without changing the positions of the disks ofthe total register 4U, as will be readily understood.

In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings I have shown a construction in whichthe measuring unit is constructed for attachment to the discharge end,branch or nozzle of a dispensing faucet, in which the unit is threadedinto engagement with a nozzle which .is detachably connected to theoutlet branch of'the body of the faucet. This construction is a simpleand desirable one for the reason that it permits of the readyapplication as well as removal of parts when desired for cleaning,repairs or other purposes. In Fig. 11 of the drawings I have shown amodification in which the outlet branch 9' of the faucet I is ofL-shaped formation and in which the measuring unit Il is designed forapplication between the divided portions 5' and 5a of an L-shaped intakebranch of the faucet, or, in other words, in which the inlet and outletends of the meter casing of the unit are threaded or otherwise formedfor detachable connection with an intake branch 5a of the faucet and anelbow unit 5' connected with the supply pipe I0. This modifiedstructure, as well as that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 may be used byslightly altering faucets of conventional type, and that shown in Fig. 2may be employed in conjunction with a faucet having an intake branchlike that in Figs. 1 and 2 and a discharge branch like that shown at 9in Fig. 11, by cutting away the depending portion of the branch 9 andinternally threading the opening in the end of the remaining portion.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the construction, mode of operation andadvantages of my improved measuring faucet will be readvice of thischaracter which is ynot only simple in construction, but which may bereadily and conveniently applied for use inconnection with .a dispensingfaucet of common type, without modification or by slight modificationthereof, so that a measured quantity of liquid `may be dispensed and theamount dispensed on each dispensing action indicated, tie amountdispensed from a container in use indicated, and the amount dispensedduring any given time from a series of containers indicated, so as toenable the proprietor of an establishment dispensing liquids to keep tabon sales or dispensing actions and to avoid the losses due tocarelessness in handling a dispensing apparatus from pure waste'or othercauses. While the construc- -tion disclosed is preferred, it will, ofcourse, be -understood that changes in the form, proportions and detailsof construction, falling within the scope of the appended claims, may bemade without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of theadvantages of the invention.

What I claim is:-

1. In a beer or like liquid dispensing apparatus, a casing having aliquid inlet at its top, a liquid outlet at its bottom and a measuringchamber therebetween, a movable measuring device in said chamber, anindicator mechanism, the said liquid inlet having a Acomparatively wideentrance portion and a eonstricted discharge portion connectingtrangentially with said chamber at one side and below the top thereof,and means including a pressure actuated blade or plate movable in theflaring portion of the chamber for throwing said indicator mechanisminto and out of action.

2. In a beer or like liquid dispensing apparatus, a casing having aliquid inlet at its top, a liquid outlet at its bottom and a measuringchamber therebetween, a rotary measuring wheel in said chamber, anindicator mechanism, the said liquid inlet having a comparatively wideentrance portion, a eonstricted discharge portion connected tangentiallywith said chamber Aat one side and below the top thereof andi aninclined seat surface located at one side of said inlet between saidportions, a rock shaft journaled in the casing and controlling saidindicator, and a blade carried by said shaft and disposed in theentrance portion of said liquid so as to normally occupy an obstructingposition between the same and the eonstricted portion of the inlet, saidblade being movable downwardly under liquid pressure to anon-obstructing position against said seat and operative in so doing torock said shaft to permit operation of the indicator.

3. In a beer or like liquid dispensing apparatus, a casing having aliquid inlet at its top, a liquid outlet at its bottom and a measuringchamber therebetween, a rotary measuring wheel in said chamber, anindicator mechanism, the said liquid inlet having a comparatively wideentrance portion, a eonstricted discharge portion connected tangentiallywith said chamber at one side and below the top thereof and an inclinedseat surface located at one side of said inlet between said portions, arock, shaft journaled in the casing and controlling said indicator, ablade carried by said shaft and disposed in the entrance portion'of saidliquid so as to normally occupy an obstructing position between the sameand the constricted portion of the inlet, said blade being movabledownwardly under liquid pressure to a non-obstructing position againstsaid seat and operative in so doing to rock said shaft to permitoperation of the indicator. and spring controlled means operating onsaid shaft to return the blade shaft and indicator to normal positionupon the cessation of liquid pressure on the blade.

4. In a beer or like liquid dispensing apparatus having a vaiveddispensing faucet, the combination of a casing connected with the outletof the faucet and having an inlet and an outlet, a rotary measuringwheel disposed in the casing between the inlet and the outlet. anindicator hand carried by the casing, gearing inciuding a transmissionshaft driven by the measuring wheel for actuating said indicator hand, aslldable and rotatable clutch sleeve movable into and out of clutchengagement with the transmission shaft, an indicator operating shaftextending through said sleeve and having a sliding gear connectiontherewith for operating the indicator hand when the sleeve is rotated,said sleeve being provided with a cam surface having high and low pointsand a recess therebetween, a spring acting on said clutch sleeve formoving the same in disengaging direction, and a motion transmittingmember for moving the sleeve in engaging direction and permitting saidsleeve to remain normally ini` disengaged position, said membercomprising a crank shaft having a blade exposed to the pressure of fluidflowing to the casing when the faucet is open to rock said shaft inmotion transmitting direction and having a crank arm engaging the sleevefor transmitting engaging motion thereto, said crank arm normallyengaging the cam recess to hold the sleeve againstv rotation in normaldirection and being engageable by said cam in the rotation of the sleeveand under its return movement by the spring to return said motiontransmitting device to'normal position upon a cessation of fluidpressure in the casing.

FREDERICK TRINCA.

